Dawn Of The End
by corpsegrinder666
Summary: Shadow begins to see strange visions of an apocalyptic future, ruled by the very man that shot his beloved Maria on the ARK several decades ago. To make matters more complicated he meets a hedgehog girl that looks just like Maria.:Story far from finished:
1. Chapter 1: Visions Of The Dying

**((Well I got the new account working and finished uploading my stuff to it. On with the story))**

Chapter 1: Visions of The Dying

_**A risen in vain to a life,**_

_**Bleeding inner to suffer with time.**_

_**Endlessly lost and still searching**_

_**For something, someday.**_

He ran and ran, holding onto the only one he loved...The one he cared for..Speeding up as he heard the sound of soldiers behind them. Reaching the escape pod, he got in...but then, he suddenly saw his precious Maria gunned down in cold blood by the soldiers. "NOOOO!! MARIAAAA!!" He screamed. He could do nothing but watch as one of the soldiers went up to her still moving body. "Shadow...Please...promise me that you'll do it for me, for all the people on that planet" she said before a soldier shot her several times until she was dead. Shadow repeatedly banged and pounded the pod door. "YOU BASTARDS! YOU FUCKING BASTARDS!!! STOP IT!!!!" The pod then launched into space onto earth. "MARIA..." Shadow collapsed and began to cry.."No...Maria...why?" Shadow then awoke on his couch, panting and sweating from the nightmare. After a few minutes he clutched his chest and fell back onto the old, rotten couch letting out a short moan."Maria..." He closed his eyes slowly and fell back asleep. Trying his best to ignore his past. He had been trying to avoid sleep for years since the dreams would always come back to haunt him.

_Shadow..._

_Maria?_

He saw Maria from a far distance and ran toward her. "Maria..." He said as he closed the distance.

"Maria..Please...Take me with you!"

He begged.

Then he suddenly hit a glass wall of some sort. He tried to break through to Maria but it was no use.

"No! Maria...MARIA!"

He cried out wanting to end the suffering. Maria then unexpectedly walked through the glass wall. She came close to Shadow and hugged him. Tears ran down slowly on Shadow's face. Confused and entwined in sadness, Shadow cried as Maria hugged him.

"Shadow, please don't be sad. I know I'm not here, but that doesn't mean there is no happiness in this world."

"Oh please Maria, I can't live like this. I need you with me."

He began to grip onto her, fresh tears rolling down his face.

"I know how much you want me to be with you again, but I can't."

What she said only made Shadow even more upset. Maria gently put her hands on Shadows wet face.

"There is happiness for you Shadow. You just have to know where to look."

She then disappeared in green light. Shadow laid on the blue floor, eyes dreamy and filled with tears.

"M-Maria..."

He awoke again, this time light shown through the broken windows. Breathing slowly and heavily, his fur soaked with sweat. He stood up on the couch staring at nothing for several minutes, letting out a sigh. Finally, he got up and went to the door. The clouds covered the sky and a breeze went by. Shadow stood for a minute letting the breeze move through his quills. Still remembering what Maria had told her. Shadow then ran off into the grassy field.

Later in the day after running Shadow stopped at his thinking spot. Laying in the grass at a place in the deep woods with light penetrating through the tops of the trees. There Shadow would think. Shadow was a thinker, he would think for hours about everything. Its something he has done even before Maria died. Ever since her death however it had been hard to take his mind off of his past. The way she died and why she died always brought feelings of resentment and misery.

_Goddamnit why did she have to die!? Why wasn't it me?_

He had been asking himself that question for a long time now. Nothing or no one could replace Maria. He wished he could just turn back the clock and take revenge on the ones that killed Maria. Alas, it was something even he could not do. He looked up at the trees, listening to them. An hour had passed until he finally let out a sigh. He then remembered what Maria told him in his dream.

_Wish there was someone to replace Maria, but there isn't. No one can replace you, Maria..._

The name filled his mind nearly every day. It fueled his visions, his thoughts, his actions and his perception of the government. They killed her to get to Shadow, and even he didn't do anything wrong. He was created to bring good to the world, and yet all the people that created him were slaughtered by GUN soldiers. It always puzzled him why people would judge something by their looks rather than asking questions or researching it.

_hmph humans_

He never liked humans, the way they acted toward each other and the way they have treated him. Always ignoring the decaying portion of the population while consuming the land around them and fending for their own desires, like an immature teenager getting layed all while making fun of the ones that did not succeed. Willing to spill so much blood over the most ridiculous things such as shiny rocks and made up fantasies. He did admit though that they were a smart species capable of changing an entire world. Humans were clever but what was puzzling is how humans would more often resort to their instincts rather than using their vast amount of intelligence to fix problems. Shadow turned his head to face the tree tops. He liked it here, no one to bother him. It was in the deep woods so it was pretty isolated. The ambience was very peaceful. The only things that could be heard were the trees and tall grass waving slowly in the breeze. The spot was also beautiful, like a painting almost. It was the only place he would come to when he wanted to be alone. No one else came here except him, and he liked it that way. Being by himself with his own thoughts was very comforting. It was the only thing he liked doing. There were times where he would do his thinking on top of a skyscraper but even they could not compare to the quiet, undisturbed areas of the deep woods. He let out a short quiet breath of pleasure, staring at the penetrating light as he began to fall asleep in the grass.

Shadow opened his eyes, rubbing them. His vision was blurred for a few seconds after rubbing them. When they cleared, he realized that he wasn't in the woods. The place he was at was silent, dark, eerie and had somewhat of a hellish presence as well. He could see that he was in the middle of some kind of road, and his surroundings were what appeared to be a ruined city. Cars were stacked on rubble and half-decayed corpses littered the road. It was the kind of atmosphere that would make even the strongest shiver.

"Hellooo!"

His voice echoed through the silent street. Suddenly, he heard a scream. It sounded like a female's scream.

"Maria?"

He heard the screams again.

"Maria!!"

Shadow accelerated as quickly as he could and followed the screams.

"Maria! I'm coming!"

He sped up as he ran desperately through the dusty, dark streets. He looked around himself as he ran and followed the screams. They were getting louder, he could tell he was getting close. He then saw an abandoned factory, the screams seemed to be coming from there. He sped into the factory as fast as he could. As he ran through the interior of the factory, he searched for where the screams were coming from. Shadow walked through the manufacturing room to a hallway, down the hallway was a room with red light illuminating from the door. He also heard machine noises and screaming. He quietly walked up to the door and peeked inside. There was a female hedgehog stripped naked and tied to the floor in an X position with an expression beyond terrified, she could barely move. There was some kind of machine in the corner emitting red light, a pile of money in another corner of the room and a torture cabinet on the wall. The room was trashed and smelled like a hospital. There were papers and bottles all over the floor. At the end of the room a man wearing a torn and stained business suit sat at a table holding some kind of grotesque surgical device got up and was walking up to the girl.

"No, please.." She said fearfully.

The man with the strange device pressed a button on it. The device then activated arms with razor blades on them. The arms went down to the stomach about to dissect her. Shadow could not for some reason let her die. He bashed the door open and ran in, but he suddenly hit a transparent barrier that was blocking the doorway. He tried to break it down with his punches but it didn't work.

"NO..HELP ME SHADOW!"

The girl screamed as the razors tore open her stomach.

_How does she know my name? And..._

Shadow could only watch in horror as she was gutted by the man's device.

_NO! Why did I fail again?!_

Shadow made a tight fist and began to pound on the barrier as he cursed and yelled.

"SHADOW!! AHHHH!!!" She screamed in agony.

Then Shadow started to glow with red light, he then released his rage.

"CHAOS BLAST!"

It worked, he was sure it did. The barrier broke and shattered from the energy wave. Shadow lunged at the man in the suit but then he suddenly vanished into thin air.

"What!? Damnit!"

He then looked at the hedgehog girl.

"S-Shadow..." She said weakly with blood dripping from her mouth, her entrails lying around her body.

Shadow knelt beside her trying to think of what to do. He picked her up and comforted her. He noticed she was in serious condition and needed medical attention. However, there were no hospitals or doctors in this ruined city. He did not know what else to do.

"S-S-S-S-Sh-Sh-Sha-Shad-ow...I...I..L-" She tried to get the words out, but before she could her body went limp.

Shadow put the body down and began to tremble.

"No...I failed...again..." He slammed his fist on the ground hard enough to cause the floor to shake.

"WHY!!!!!!!!!!!?" He cried out, tears flowing quickly from his eyes. Just then he woke up and was back in the woods. He was shaking and sweating. His ruby eyes were wide and full of shock. After a moment, he looked around and realized it was another dream.

"Huh...What was that all about?" He though out loud. He rubbed his blurred eyes and waited for a few seconds for his mind to clear up. Shadow then got up onto his feet, built up acceleration on his air shoes and sped off toward the city.

_I've never dreamt of something like that before. None of it is from my past yet it felt so real. I've never cared about anyone other than Maria. Who is she? And why was she being tortured like that?_


	2. Chapter 2: Lost Companionship

Chapter 2: Lost Companionship

_**Everything here is so cold**_

_**Everything here is so dark**_

_**I remember it as from a dream**_

_**In the corner of this time**_

As Shadow entered the outskirts of Station Square, dusk began to appear on the horizon. The sky was cloudless and the sun was beginning to set. He still thought about the dream he had while he was asleep in the woods.

_How could this come to my mind? Was it possibly a lost memory I had? Did she really exist? Did I really fail more than once to save someone I loved so much?_

Shadow approached what appeared to be a gas station. At first it was normal, but then it started to take the shape of an ash coloured ruin. The sky suddenly turned dark and ominous.

_What the..._

Shadow immediately stopped running. A face of terror replaced his confused and pondering expression. He saw four people being dragged out onto the lot of the ruined gas station by what looked like soldiers. The people were begging and sobbing. Then without warning the strange soldiers shot them all to the ground, blood splashing from the bullet impacts. Within seconds the image Shadow saw changed back to an average gas station. Shadow then resumed running into Station Square, still shocked by what he saw.

Shadow continued running into station square, the thoughts still fresh in his mind.

Hours later Shadow was sitting in the corner of an old café. The aroma of fresh coffee filled the room, the walls were worn out and there weren't anyone in the café except Shadow and the people that worked there. There was a thunderstorm outside. The sound of the rain hitting the windows added to the atmosphere of the room. Shadow sat with his head on top of his arms on the table staring out at the storm. His eyes had that cool expression.

_Just what was that all about? It wasn't from my past. I never remember seeing that and I certainly never remember being at that place. Are these lost memories...or are they.._

Suddenly Shadow saw someone outside being chased by a gang. Followed by screams.

The cry seemed to sound familiar to Shadow. It made him stutter.

"Maria!"

Shadow scrambled out of the café and into the rainy, wet streets. He turned and heard the sound of cries in a nearby alleyway. In there he saw a hedgehog girl about to be raped by the gang of alligators and weasels. One of the weasels pulled out a combat knife, ripping off her clothes one by one.

"How long is this gonna take?"

"Yeah, I wanna fuck her RIGHT NOW!"

They said impatiently.

"Calm down, it'll be ready when its ready" The weasel said.

"Bitch, we are gonna fuck you till the morning hits. You'll be lying here tired, then we'll probably come back for more."

"n..no..."

She begged, tears running down her face.

They all laughed as the final stitch of her clothing was cut. Just before the mayhem was about to start, they heard a shot of energy. One of the alligators suddenly gripped his stomach, blood and burnt flesh oozing from it. He groaned in pain and collapsed, Shadow appearing before them all with a demonic and hateful expression. One of them ran up to his friend and grieved.

"wha..what the hell did you do to him?"

"Get out of here, all of you...now.." Shadow said coldly.

They all backed away and ran without looking back. The hedgehog girl covered herself, shivering from the rain. Shadow was then reminded of the hedgehog girl from his thoughts.

_She looks exactly like her. _

He gasped quietly, confused.

"wh..who are you?"

The girl asked, still shaken from the events. Shadow just stood there not knowing what to say, everything Maria told him in his dream was running through his mind. He then suddenly gripped his head and ran off. More memories of the past began to hit him as he ran.

:flashback:

Shadow sat on the floor of the ARK watching the stars with a slight somber on his face. Maria then walked in with some cake from her birthday party.

"Hey Shadow how come you didn't join my birthday party? We were having so much fun."

She noticed Shadows expression and sat down beside him closely.

"Shadow you haven't done much for the past few days, what's wrong?" She asked concerned while putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Maria..I get the feeling that something bad is going to happen."

"What is? Tell me Shadow."

There was a pause before Shadow told her what he had been dreaming for the past few nights.

"I...I was standing in the halls of the ARK...There were no lights on...It was cold and very silent. I was walking down these halls when I found a flashlight..I picked it up and turned it on...What the light revealed on the wall in front of me was a bloodstain."

Maria gasped slightly from what she heard.

"Then there was a scream in the distance echoing through the ARKS halls. It sounded like you...So I rushed to the direction of the screams...Whe...when I got there...they...they..."

Shadow squinted his eyes and let tears fall. He remembered watching the soldiers rip open Maria with their bullets, killing her. He remembered one of the soldiers kicking Maria before turning to shoot him.

"They shot you Maria! They shot you dead!"

Shadow wept and sniffled while holding Maria tight, burying his face in her chest.

"Shadow..."

"...wh...why were they doing that Maria?. ...w...Why were they doing that?"

"Shhh hush now Shadow, it was just a dream."

Maria stroked the top of Shadow's head trying to comfort him. The thought of her being shot ran through Shadow's head once again.

_Mariaaaaa!!!_

:End of flashback:

Shadow sat on top of a skyscraper, staring down at the city lightsHe thought about why he had saved the girl that was about to be raped by a street gang. In reality he would have just minded his own business, but this time was unusual. His mind filled up with confusion. He remembered how she had nothing on when he got out there. He had never seen anyone naked before especially a girl of his own species. It was a powerful feeling of uneasiness and appreciation. Although he could not get over the fact that she was about to be raped by scumbags. He had seen a lot of cruelty in life but he had never experienced feelings of kindness and empathy since Maria's death. He began to feel worried about her as if something else would happen, but at the same time he still wondered why. Tired and confused, Shadow fell asleep. The wind blew gently giving him a sense of tranquility.

Shadow found himself in a smoked filled area, from what he could tell he was in the city. Gunshots echoed through the distance followed by screams and moaning. He walked looking at his surroundings the smoke covering almost everything, he could barely see. His foot stepped on something, something burning. It smelled so foul. He stepped back to look at what it was. It was a half-burnt body laying on its back with its hands over its eyes and its mouth wide open.

"What's going on?" Shadow said to himself quietly. He suddenly heard someone speak.

"There he is, kill him!"

The soldiers aimed their weapons at Shadow and fired. Shadow immediately evaded the shots and ran at high velocity at them, grabbed two of the soldiers and twisted their necks in one move.

"Grenade!"

An explosion knocked Shadow to the ground. He laid their groaning and trying to get up.

"Surround him and terminate!" The company leader shouted. They all gathered around the struggling hedgehog, aiming their weapons about to fire. Shadow growled in fury and let out a familiar cry.

"CHAOS BLAST!"

The surrounding soldiers bodies and weapons were annihilated by the blast, leaving only shadows of dust from where they stood. Afterwards he got up, started his air shoes and ran foward confused and shocked by what he was seeing. Shadow suddenly stopped in front of a pile of skulls.

_What the hell is happening?_

There was a pause before Shadow picked up a skull and examined it. He then heard a metallic sound to his left. Turning his head toward the sound, he saw what appeared to be a tank of some sort. Before Shadow could maneuver, it shot an extremely fast beam that melted his body. Shadow wailed in pain as his skeleton was exposed and shattered. He suddenly woke up in a thunderstorm with rain pouring like blanket sheets, his fur already soaked by it. He got up and started running to the edge of the skyscraper, getting off and running downwards to the street. Speeding off the side of the skyscraper in an L fashion he made his way toward home, running past cars and people until he was out of the city. When he got to the grass fields he stopped running and walked up to the abandoned house that kept him warm and dry for years. Shadow opened the door and walked in relieved to be out of the rain. Shaking off the water from his fur, he walked over to the half rotten couch and waited for the rain to stop. As he sat, he wondered why he was having these nightmares, and how did he remember having that vision of the future before Maria died.

_I remember seeing what would happen...I knew somehow that she would die that way...but...how did I..._

Shadow thought for a moment remembering that a couple of times, he had dreams that took place in the exact same event from which Maria had been shot and killed.

_But...that was before she died...Are my memories getting to my head? Or is this some kind of power I never knew I had, and if it is then how come the professor never told me about it?_

**((The next chapter will center around Myr the hedgehog girl ))**


	3. Chapter 3: In The Darkness Of The Past

**(Sorry for the re-posting, but I've been fixing some mistakes that I unfortunately missed during the spellchecks)**

**Name: Myr the hedgehog  
Age: 18  
Fur colour: Golden with white rings on quills and wrists  
Eye Colour: Ocean blue  
Species: Hedgehog  
Clothes: Turqois dress similar in style to Amy Rose's  
Location: Station square  
Skills: Unknown  
Known friends: Unknown  
Known enemies: Unknown  
Family: Deceased  
**

**_-_**

**_- _**

Chapter 3: In The Darkness Of The Past**_  
_**

**_Tell me - what did you see there  
In the darkness - of the past?_**

In the suns glaze that reflected off the windows and metal of skyscrapers, Myr the hedgehog sat in a chair on her deck. Her golden fur and turqois dress reflected the suns strong light. Myr kept thinking about what happened last night. Why that black hedgehog attacked that gang of rapists and not her. She was soaking wet from the rain by the time she got to the police station where she told them every detail on what happened. They told her there that the black hedgehogs name was Shadow and that he had once saved earth from an army of aliens.

As she stared at the sky the memories of the alien invasion came to her mind. Her parents were killed years ago in crossfire between G.U.N and Black Arms forces, she was only 14 at the time. Tears suddenly rolled down her face as she remembered the terrible events.

:Flashback:

The skies were red and the streets were littered with corpses. On two ends of the road were a crowd of Black Arms troops and a G.U.N machine gun emplacement firing streams of lead at the charging aliens. Myr and her parents were caught in the firefight and were still trying to find a way out. Myr was covering her ears and screaming. The smells of war filled the air as the men with weapons were shouting and there were people running all over the streets. Myr was being embraced by her mother as the noise and gunfire went on. Father quickly shouted "Their open, hurry we have to move!" They began running for their lives before more lasers and bullets were fired. "Myr we have to move faster!" Mother said loud and firm, her voice crackling somewhat from the intense fear that gripped her. Then without warning the crossfire lit up again. Father was suddenly hit in the thigh and fell down gripping the burning and oozing flesh. "GO!" He shouted. "Daddy!" Myr cried out, tears welling in her eyes. "GO..NOW..." were his final words, laser shots suddenly burned and tore him open. "DADDY..." Myr cried out louder than before, the tears now streaming down her face. She buried her face in her mothers chest as they kept running to the other side of the street. To Myr it seemed as if the running was taking forever. They were both tired and worn out. Everything seemed to be in slow motion.

After what seemed like seven minutes they finally reached the truck that was evacuating the fleeing people. Mother sat Myr on the loaded truck before she climbed up beside her daughter, but just as she did a laser shot from a Black Arms soldier got her in the back several times. As Myr saw the horror her eyes went wide and watery. Everything suddenly became somnolent. The truck then started to accelerate away from the massacre. Myr held out her hand to her mothers limp body that was now several feet away from her and cried out.

"MOMMY..."

No answers came, Myr put her hands on her face and wept hard.

"Mom...Dad..."

:End of flashback:

Myr sat with her face still staring at the sky. It had only been four years since that event and she was still enduring the throbbing memories. Tearing her view from the clear sky she turned to hear the sound of the teapot whistling. She got up, walked inside towards the kitchen and turned off the element on the stove. Steam rocketing up to the ceiling as she poured the mug full of tea leaves with the hot water. She sighed, knowing how lonely she was in the cheap apartment she lived in. The neighbores were nothing but drunken pricks and the landlord was a real bastard, even the children weren't nice. It was good that her parents left her with living money so that she wouldn't spend the rest of her life on the streets.  
Waiting for the tea to aquire flavor she walked into the living room and turned on the TV. She flipped the channels until she got to the news.

"Terrorists engaged G.U.N forces in the more dense areas of the city. Soldiers suffered four dead and ten wounded. In other news the body of one of the rapists that attacked a hedgehog female in the lower class areas of Station Squeare was found yesterday night in an alley next to a cafe. The female later reported that It was Shadow The Hedgehog who killed the gang member. Lora has the story."

"Thank you Katherine. Most are wondering "is Shadow becoming a true hero?". While the count of rapes in these parts of Station Square remains high it is aparrent that this rumor is untrue. The motives for the killing of the rapist by Shadow is still unknown and currently being investigated. I'm Lora Borgir in eastern Station Square."

It then switched back to the main reporter.

"One of the most brutal massacres earlier this morning occured in..."

Myr switched off the television.

"Ugh, nothing but death." She said to herself as she went back to get her now-ready tea.

It seemed lately that the news was getting worse and worse. With each passing day there seemed to be more violence, more destruction and more raping... A constant fire that consumed reality, and no one was able to put it out. Many tried yes, but their deeds were almost always in vein. Nothing and no one could bring Myr out of the very cycle that she had to live with each day. Her bills and payments were high and she just didn't seem to be making enough to keep them at bay. The price of things just got higher and higher, what was sad is that there didn't seem to be any stopping it. When she finished her tea she went to the door and put on her white shoes.  
Stepping outside she breathed in the warm and crisp morning air, ready to get the day started. She started walking down the sidewalk heading into the direction of the hardware store where she worked. There was no breeze but the temperature was just right. She was glad that she wouldn't have to walk to work sweating like a pig. All of a sudden she slowly crossed her arms feeling a chill down her spine. She stopped and looked around at the surrounding buildings and lawns. Nothing.. The feeling of someone watching her was piercing the nerves in her body. She abruptly began to walk faster, wanting to get away from the feeling. Looking around again at the buildings and people, she saw nothing.

Why do I feel like someone is following me?

She thought to herself. Looking around a third time, she still saw nothing. No eyes caught her, nobody acted unusual or seemed like they'd be following or observing her. Myr was a smart girl, she always knew when someone was following her. There was no one unusual around yet she still felt the feeling of discomfort.

**(Eh, short chapter I know. Next chapter will be a continuation of this one.)**

**PEACE OUT**


	4. Chapter 4: Mental Rush

Chapter 4: Mental Rush

-

-

On top of the old suburban houses Shadow The Hedgehog followed Myr on her way to work. Using Chaos Control to keep out of sight as he continued to pursue the one that reminded him so much of Maria.

_Maria..._

The name flowed through his mind like the ocean waves. Unexpectantly, he began to hallucinate seeing Myr as Maria. The figure(Maria) turned around to face him.

"Hi Shadow." She giggled.

Shadow instantaneously stopped, skidding off the side of the buildings and slamming face forward onto the cement sidewalk. Myr of course heard the noise and turned around in the direction of the crashed ebony hedgehog

"Hey!" Myr shouted as Shadow groaned.

"What the hell are you doing stalking me?!"

Shadow slowly got up, pebbles falling off him bit by bit as he did, he tried to come up with a good reason for following her.

"I...I was making sure you wouldn't get hurt again."

He mentally slapped himself for letting such a thing cross his lips.

Myr was silent for a moment, thinking. Then she said.

"Alright, I'm gonna do something I should have done yesterday"

She reached into her pocket for something. Her cellphone? Shadow rolled his eyes knowing what she was gonna do.

_I save her from being raped by a bunch of lowlifes and this is how she thanks me? Hmph, how "nice of her."_

It wasn't her cell she was pulling out though, it was dark red lipstick. She put it on quickly and then kissed Shadow on the cheek, leaving a smudge on his face. Shadow blushed madly, making her giggle.

"Thanks for saving me yesterday, Shadow." She giggled again from saying that.

Watching her feminine figure was like nothing Shadow had ever experienced. It was an exciting, picturesque and warm feeling. Myr gave Shadow a wink just before walking off. He just stood there and wondered what the hell just happened. Touching his cheek with his shaky hand he felt the kiss she had left. His insides scorched and his heart felt like a drum. He had been kissed on the cheek before, but no one did except Maria and certainly not like that. It was confusing...

Then for a millisecond he saw two soldiers in front of her, they looked exactly like the ones from that nightmare he had. Confused he abruptly put his hand on his forehead squinting his face and ran off.

As Shadow sped out of Station Square and into the pine woods, his mind was filled with images of massacres and soldiers marching. Stopping to hold his head the images burned his mind like hot lava erupting out of a volcano. He suddenly saw a man that the soldiers were saluting but other images crushed on top of it before he could make out the man's appearance.

"Nnngh"

Is all that came out of Shadow's mouth. Suddenly Professor Gerald's voice entered his mind but it was distorted and hard to make out due to all the images and voices rushing through his thoughts.

"Go now!"

Then Maria's

"Grandpa!"

"Just go!"

Then the strange man's voice came out of no where.

"I am the new..." It was quickly replaced by another voice.

"Watch her suffer!"

Just then all the voices and images assaulted his thoughts with the word "suffer" repeating in the background. Shadow was on his knees pounding the ground with an ever so confused and angry expression stuttering, shaking and sweating heavily. His heart was racing and he felt sick as he breathed heavily. He was holding himself up, staring at the ground. The images all of a sudden stopped and his mental state was calm again. He laid down holding his stomach and after a few minutes he puked and moaned.

_So many bad thoughts...I wonder where they're all coming from..._

His eyes were half open in a sort of dreamy way. He tilt his head back to try and slip in more relief into his confused and tired psych.

_None of these are from the past it seems. That girl...She looks exactly like the one from that nightmare...But who is the man that..._

The image of the soldiers marching while saluting the strange man ran through him again. Then it struck him as he saw who the man was.

_He's the one that...No..._

Suddenly the images from the nightmare of Myr getting torn up by the strange machine came back.

"SHADOW!"

The cries for help echoed as weeping and flesh-ripping overlapped it. Shadow closed his eyes and sighed with his head tilted back slightly.

_I better watch over her. It's uncertain but for some reason I'm having a strong sense that something like this is gonna happen._

He then remembered what he saw in his dreams before Maria had died.

_I...had the same feeling..before she died.. I knew something wasn't right...I kept having nightmares of her being shot by those men._

:flashback:

In the unlit parts of the ARK the stars in the windows lit up space like Fireflies. It shone onto the walls creating a slight glittering effect. In a large room young Shadow slept on his bed with a stuffed animal...but not peacefully. In his dreams, Maria was being shot by the G.U.N soldiers.

"Promise me Shadow...Promise me that you'll do it... for me...for all the people of earth.."

Young Shadow abruptly woke up crying hard. Maria was close enough to hear it, waking her up. She got up and ran to Shadow's room hoping he was okay. When she got there, the small black hedgehog was wetting the childs-blankets with his tears while saying "Maria...Maria...MARIA!". His crying got worse just before Maria sat down on the bed to pick up Shadow.

"Shhhh, Shadow, shhhhh I'm right here...Its ok..."

She petted his head, comforting him. Shadow was gripping onto her still terrified by the nightmare. As she was petting him, she sang soothingly.

_**I'll listen when you need to talk,**_

_**I'll wipe away your tears,**_

_**I'll share your worries when they come,**_

_**I'll help you face your fears.**_

_**I'm here and I will stand by you,**_

_**Each hill you have to climb.**_

_**So take my hand, let's face the world**_

_**Live one day at a time.**_

_**You're not alone, for I'm still here,**_

_**I'll go that extra mile.**_

_**And when your grief is easier,**_

_**I'll help you learn to smile!**_

The young Shadow began to close his eyes and fall asleep in Maria's arms. It was a moment that could only be described as "ever so tender." The feeling of comforting a crying child made Maria warm in her chest. She smiled seeing Shadow all huddled and comfy thinking how cute it was. With that done she slowly and gently put the sleeping black furred hedgehog (who now looked like a ball) back onto the bed.

"Night Shadow...I love you and I'm always here for you."

She said to Shadow as she kissed him on the cheek before heading back to bed herself.

:end of flashback:

Laying on the cold ground Shadow smiled in content remembering those moments. He was however more focused on putting the pieces together on what he was experiencing here in present time.

_Strange...I also predicted the day when Black Arms tried to invade the earth...It's like I knew exactly what would happen...I remember having the visions...The massacres...those armies fighting each other in the streets, Sonic and all of his comrades desperately assisting in the fight against the aliens. _

The answer rose to the surface of his thoughts slightly. It slammed down on his psyche shocking him.

_Am I...psychic? ...And if I am..why in the hell did Gerald not tell me?_

Because he was more focused on learning about his past, he didn't really try to figure out why he was having all those dreams. He had wondered about it at times but never really tried to learn about it...until now. What he thought was uncertain, and to prove the theory he would have to go to the ARK and take a look at the System Archives. He took off his cloth necklace that had a chaos emerald on it, held it in his hand, imagined being in the ARK and said the two familiar words.

"CHAOS..CONTROL"

For a millisecond he went through a blue vortex with stars passing him at Lightspeed. The sight in front of him (The ARK's interior) appeared as if space itself was draining out of an abyss. After that, he was on the ARK...

_Now for the archives..._

He proceeded down the large corridor at high speed until he made a turn to another corridor. He then did a spin dash, accelerating even faster until he came to a broken bridge. Below was a pool of green radioactive waste with failed experiments writhing in it. Coming out of the spin he jumped and teleported to the other side, then he spin dashed again. In a few seconds he came out of the spin again and ran as he approached a T conjunction. When he turned left he sped up faster and faster through various tech rooms, living quarters, more corridors and warehouse areas. He suddenly stopped when he entered a digital library of some kind. It was the archives which contained logs, journals and records on things that have happened throughout the ARK. After it was shut down by G.U.N 50 years ago however, most of the entries were either confiscated or wiped from the memory banks. Certain encrypted files and pieces of entries were all that remained, Project Shadow was the only entry that remained fully intact though. Gerald encrypted it just when G.U.N boarded and seized the ARK. This wasn't what Shadow was looking at though, he was going to see if there was anything that might shed some light on these experiences. He once tried to use it to get answers about his past but since there was nothing on it that answered those questions at the time..he never touched it. Sitting down at the only functioning terminal (the rest were destroyed) he turned it on and waited.

After it booted up he typed "search all entries". What came up was a small list.

---------------------------------------

Code: Search All Entries

Files\

ProjectShadow.log

Experiment31.log

Entry 1629.log

Experiment02.log

---------------------------------------

Shadow began typing, looking up Experiment31. Alas it was just about a failed experiment. He then looked up entry 1629, it simply read "Site 99".

_What's Site 99?_

He thought as he looked up the last entry on the list.

---------------------------------------

Black...

---------------------------------------

Was all that it said when he opened it. He sat and pondered for awile, trying to think about what he looked at.

_Site 99..._

Afterwards he got out of the chair, held up his chaos emerald and teleported back to Station Square. He had a gut feeling that "Site 99" meant something...but what? It was then decided that he should go to Tails to try and work it out.

_Maybe he knows what it means._

He thought before he began running in the direction where Tails lived. When he got there a few minutes later, he went up to the door and rang the bell. He heard stepping. They got louder and louder until the door open. It was Sonic standing there.

"Sup Shadow, nice to see you drop by."

_Ugnh, here we go._

"Came to challenge me to a race eh? Did ya? Please tell me you did."

"Fool, I came here to speak with tails...Where is he?"

Sonic kept that grin of his on, a look that said "C-mon Shadow, you know you want to." But Shadow didn't have time to go head to head with his rival, he was focused on finding the truth about the visions.

"Where is Tails? I have to talk to him."

"About what?" Sonic asked in a sort of rude tone.

"None of your business, Faker. Let me talk to him."

"Sorry pal, I can't let you do that if I don't know the reason."

Shadow's expression changed to an infuriated one. Sonic noticed this and said.

"Damn Shadow, you look like you need to take a cool pill."

_If Faker doesn't stop with the bullshit, I am gonna punch that stupid grin into his skull._

His fist tightened the more Sonic babbled. Then unexpectantly, Amy walked up to them.

"Shadow! What a surprise."

Amy said with that cheerful tone she quite often had.

"Amy, I need to speak to tails...It's important."

"Tails? He's in the Garage, follow me."

The pink hedgehog walked out the door to the garage that was attached to the house, Shadow followed. When they got to the side door, Amy knocked. Shortly after knocking the orange two tailed fox opened the door, he was holding a drill and wearing goggles.

"Tails I know this might sound awkward but Shadow needs to see you."

Amy said.

"Really? Why does he need me?"

Shadow then cut in.

"Its important Tails, I have to know something."

"What do you want to know?" The young fox asked.

"What Site 99 means."

There was a pause before Tails said.

"Hmmm...I have no idea...But we can look it up on my super-mainframe."

He got into more details about how it had lightning speed internet and wicked ass graphics yada yada yada. Then Amy faked a smile and abruptly stopped the train.

"Ok Tails, I think we get the point."

After all that Tails led them into the basement where the "super-mainframe" was. Once they got there Tails opened the door and stepped in.

"Well, there it is."

The computer was huge, filling half of the room with cables, metal and small maintenance terminals. The massive terminal in the middle of it all was the main one. Tails walked up to it, moved the tiny mouse and brought it out of its screensaver. He then started up a weird web-browser and typed in "Site 99". When the results came up, which was less than a millisecond, he clicked on a link called "Bizzare info on the mysterious Site 99." Tails then scrolled down slightly to read the basic info on the page, Shadow moved in closer to read it.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What is Site 99? Why was it built and what is its purpose? Little is known about this enigmous facility. What we do know is that it is a top secret installation built by G.U.N for unknown reasons. It is located in and isolated spot in the middle of the desert. The location was unknown for quite some time until a small aircraft with a reporter on board took pictures of it.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tails scrolled down to the poor quality pictures of a high tech base surrounded by desert.

"Wow, I never knew this. G.U.N sure knows how to keep secrets huh, Shadow...Shadow?"

Without notification, Shadow was gone. Running away from the Sonic Teams house as fast as lightning towards the direction of Site 99.

_Thats where the answer is...Site 99...I have to hurry..Who knows when this hell is gonna break loose and when it does...Maria..will die again..._

**(I apologize for the bad plot. Next chapter, Shadow breaks into a high security G.U.N base. --raises horns-- PEACE OUT) **_  
_


	5. Chapter 5: When Darkness Calls

**(Bon Appétit!)**

Chapter 5: When Darkness Calls

Dust kicked up behind the black and crimson hedgehog as he raced through the scorching hot desert to the unknown Site 99. His fur was filled with sand and sweat, his eyes were closed half way to try and block out the suns extremely bright glaze. The socks in his air shoes felt wet and warm. He was sure the answer to all his strange visions lied within the techno-fortress. It was a feeling of desperation and mystery. Time was against him, he did not know where or when these "future events" would happen so he had to pick up the pace before they did become reality. When he reached a cliff he spin dashed and sped up the face of the cliff using all the thrust he could muster. Dropping down on the top and landing on his feet while still skating.

Climbing over the horizon appeared to be a large metallic structure with antennas and one big satellite dish on top with a strange, futuristic looking feed horn. Shadow skidding on the rocky sands, stopping himself. He put his hand over his eyes trying to see into the dry heat that the suns rays dumped, what he was seeing was his goal. The metallic castle stood and reflected the suns light. He then gripped his chaos emerald that hung from his neck and accelerated towards the mysterious GUN base.

On a guard tower a man with a pulse rifle and sunglasses stood with his mountain dew staring out at the arid, tan desert. He wore dirty-blue and black camouflage armor with a grey barrette. His eyes constantly looking out at the sand, watching for any trespasser who would dare walk into Site 99 boundaries. Sometimes he would catch reporters or curious photographers and signal the alarm but no one was snooping today. It brought on a sense of boredom knowing there was nothing to do but stand around with a rifle waiting for intruders to pop out of nowhere into his line of sight. He suddenly heard a stepping noise, it was close. He gripped his rifle tight; a surge of relief coated his senses.

_I'm gonna get ya fucker, no one gets inside Site 99._

He thought to himself scanning the barbed wire fences. The stepping sounds came on again..this time..on top of the tower.

_What the hell?_

This concerned the muscular tower guard, it was highly unusual for sounds to be coming from the very place he was standing. He had the feeling that someone, or something was behind him so he turned around...Nothing...He turned back around, but unexpectantly something caught his eye...It was past the concrete fence and inside the yard. He pointed his rifle at it and yelled.

"Halt! On the ground or I'll shoot!"

But just after he said that..the thing disappeared. He tapped a button on his headset.

"This is tower 3! We have an intruder inside the yard, I repeat INRUDER INSIDE THE YARD!"

The alarm screamed suddenly and red lights flashed all over the base. Armed guards were running out of buildings and others were scrambling into the armory to get their gear. Leaders shouted orders to the guards while dogs barked and growled. Shadow stood silently in the darkness watching it all. As soon as the heavy door on the largest structure opened up and troops poured out heading to the yard, he chaos controlled into the building. When he appeared inside there were guards surrounding him.

"Wha?! There he is! Halt!"

Shadow swung up a kick in the man's face, knocking off his headset and spilling blood from his broken nose and cut skin. The troops fired on Shadow missing every shot. Bullets impacted lights and the steel wall as he dodged the fire. He accelerated with fury towards four guards winding up his fists and letting out a loud growl. The guards in seconds one by one were slammed hard onto the walls and the floor, their jaws, chests and heads smashed and disfigured. Suddenly more guards ran in the entry way with guns blazing at him. He growled again powering up chaos energy and aiming.

"CHAOS SPEAR!"

Several shots of yellow energy rained onto the charging guards burning and killing them as they screamed. Shadow's eyes glowed red with the chaos energy directed from his rage building up. Just then a swift hand tossed an incinerary grenade into the entry way. He used Chaos Control to pick the grenade up and take it back out to the guards, then he went back inside and came out of Chaos Control. He heard a fiery blast along with screaming and grunting. The guards were on fire running around and collapsing.

_Hmph, how pathetic. They all think I'm an easy kill._

He turned around and headed inside, a large steel door without warning closed on him shutting him out. Shadow rolled his eyes staring at the locked door. He then held his chaos emerald and put his hand on the door, it suddenly melted. Once there was a small hole, he moved his hand in circles making the hole bigger and bigger. When it was large enough he stepped through. The room he went in appeared to be some kind of storage area, there were fork-lifters among stacks of white barrels. At the end of the storage room there was a corridor that led into the interior of Site 99. There were red lights flashing and illuminating in circular motions and the sounds of the alarm were still going. An announcement was suddenly made over the speakers.

"All personnel remain calm and find the nearest lock-down chamber."

Now that he was inside he had to find whatever it was that can reveal the mystery of his visions. He built up speed and sped off like a lightning bolt into the facility. Turrets came out of the ceiling and targeted Shadow with unusual precision. They fired homers that followed the black blur leaving smoke trails in their wake. He saw an office of some kind to the right, turned, went inside the office and shut the door as quickly as he could. The homers exploded on the other side making the area around him shake violently. A painful feeling shocked him and he quickly took his hands off the broiling door which was smoking now. Outside the office the turrets were oscillating and circling, searching for his heat signature. Their laser pointers emitted red dots at the last known spot where the ebony hedgehog was and their reticles moved all around looking for their target. Suddenly the turrets exploded when a black ball appeared out of no where and rammed them with such force. Shadow lily hopped in spin mode from one turret to the next making them shatter and blow up. When it was over he landed on the floor hunched, then he turned his crimson coloured eyes to a small hallway.

Starting up his air shoes once again he ran into the hall. He got to yet another locked door, but this time it was protected by a green transparent shield. He punched it with all his strength, when it failed he tried to spin attack it. He growled in frustration and then punched, kicked and chaos speared the shield.

"JUST..OPEN..YOU..FUCK."

He said in between attacks.

_Great...Something impenetrable just had to get in my way...just great._

Looking up he tried to find an alternative way through. His eyes scanned every inch of the ceiling for openings.

Down below the chaos a team of observers, technicians and guards watched the black hedgehog race down halls and into offices, change rooms and various living quarters. A man in a leather trench coat, a white and black colour officers-hat with a pin that said GUN on it, and wearing jackboots stood in the back watching them all stare at the screens observing the black blur. He was known as Augustus.

"What is Project Shadow doing here?"

He asked in his guttural and smooth voice.

"I don't know"

A technician replied.

"It appears to be looking for something."

"Yeah but what?"

"Hell would I know."

The power unexpectantly turned off.

"Shit.. Turn on the back up generators."

Augustus ordered. A camera observer hit a large black switch below the terminals and the lights came flickering back on. The monitors did the same...but there was something wrong. Static filled the glass screens and the speakers blasted out white noise.

"Sir..um. the cameras are offline.."

"Turret Status."

"..Offline."

"Goddamnit. Hicks, whats the guards status?"

"Switching to team interface sir."

Augustus closed his distance on the monitors getting a better view of the program. There were yellow dots that were the guards, other dots were different colours representing different teams. Hicks turned on his headset.

"Team Victor what is your status I repeat what is your status."

Radio chatter and slight bits of static came through, a guard answered in an anxious tone.

"We have three dead and one wounded, team ammo count no more than two mags. Target's last known position was in the supply station."

"Copy that Team Victor. Units in sector 02, possible target in your area."

No one replied when he said that, nothing but quiet static.

"Team Charlie? Delta? Omega? Damnit.."

Memories that Augustus collected during the raid on the ARK suddenly came back. 54 years ago when he was still a private, he and a few other teams of elite soldiers raided the ARK and killed hundreds of scientists, destroyed everything related to research on the ARK and imprisoned high class officials. ARK's Indestructible Seal was something he would never forget. He thought of it as proper justice, that Gerald did not have the right to do scientific work without enforcement. Every mission he went through fueled these thoughts of social control. To him the human race was just a flock of mindless sheep. A sound of thumping came from the ceiling. The guards in the room pointed their guns at the sound and readied themselves. Augustus remembered how Shadow fought off some of his comrades.

"Shoot! Right there! Open fire!"

He shouted at the guards and they immediately did so. Flames popping out of their pulse rifles at lightning speed.

"Check for heat signatures!"

Augustus ordered.

"Nothing sir."

"Damnit!"

-

Shadow was making his way through the air ducts past the shield and into the inner parts of Site 99. One of the shots fired hit the low part of his right leg, he looked back and saw his own blood spattered on the wall of the air duct then he looked at his leg.

"Fuck.."

Was the only thing that came out. He knew he had to find some cloth to keep it sealed or else he would bleed to death. Laughing filled his head all of a sudden and he saw a garden, a bright and beautiful garden. Maria was standing in the middle of the flowers with her golden hair waving in the wind. The image of the hedgehog girl (Myr) blurred in with the image of Maria.

"Shadow...help me...please Shadow...Shadow..."

Everything started to turn rotten. All the flowers died and went dry really fast and the sky turned red. Maria's face turned to mush and fell onto the floor revealing her skull.

"Maria...Whats happening!? No..."

Reality came back and Shadow was in the air ducts again. He crawled forward, his leg leaving a blood trail as he pressed on towards the answers he seeked.

**( "Boss battle" next chapter. Laterz.)**

**PEACE **


	6. Reincarnated Memories PART 1

Chapter six: Reincarnated Memories (PART 1)

Warm air moved through the airducts at a slow pace. Shadow's quills lifted a bit from the moving air as he crawled his way towards a safe spot to fix himself up. Blood trickled off his leg slowly, he could feel his heart pumping faster. Shadow knew very well that this was the first sign of blood loss. He needed to find a first aid kit or some cloth before it was too late for him. His body had an ability to heal itself within hours, he was, after all, the Ultimate Lifeform. However with the severe kind of wound that he had. It only took eight minutes to bleed out, and since he was a hedgehog that time was quite a bit shorter. He saw a ventilation outlet ahead of him with voices coming from below it. They were teams of guards communicating to each other with their headsets. He kept away from the outlet so that they would not spot him.

_"This is Victor 2, Homer Turrets in Sector 03 have been destroyed by intruder. We are also low on ammo, requesting permission to go back and re-arm."_

"Negative Victor 2, keep searching for the intruder. Theres no telling where he might have gone off to next."

_"Copy that..Switching to secondary weapons, out."_

A short beep ending the chatter. Shadow, knowing the guard was turned away from the outlet, crawled quickly and as quietly as he could over it. A few drops of his blood dripped below to the floor, the guard did not notice. He kept crawling, dragging his bleeding leg with him. A warm and uneasy feeling embraced Shadow's body. He could hear his own heartbeats pound inside him. He then turned right heading down the narrow duct towards another outlet. In his mind he suddenly saw himself dying in a hallway of some sort. The painfull feelings of that vision hit him with wrecking ball speed. He collapsed onto the surface of the ducts emitting a pounding noise. The guards outside heard this and investigated.

"This is Zeta 4, intruder is in the ventilation ducts I repeat in the ventilation ducts."

"_What is your location Zeta 4."_

_"_Sector 05."

"_Teams in all areas around Sector 05, stay alert."_

Team leaders replied with a "copy that", "got it" and "roger".

Using all the strength he could muster. He kicked open an outlet shattering the cover on the floor. Bits of metal went flying in all directions. He dropped down from the outlet into a laboratory of some sort. Deformed creatures with sharp teeth were asleep inside bubbling tanks. Mainframes hummed and made quiet clicking noises, some tiny lights flicked on and off at a rapid pace. This laboratory looked very similar to the ones on the ARK. It reminded Shadow of the times when he was once in a tube like these..beside deformed chaos experiments. Those were indeed some bizzare times for Shadow.

He walked around limping, looking for some cloth or a medkit. His ruby eyes scanned the industrial, cable filled lab. When he past a section of tubes, he caught the sight of a white box with a red cross on it hanging on the wall. He immediatly limped over to the box, opened it and took out some dressings. He wrapped the dressings around his wound tightly. The blood seeped into the dressings leaving a red blotch on the white material. He stood back up slowly, streams of pain electrocuted his leg.

_Okay, now that thats done..._

Coughing broke the silence in the lab, it was followed with short moans. Shadow limped away from the medkit toward the noise. It seemed to be coming from a small room that was covered with turqois drapes. He swallowed and let out a breath of nervousness, getting a feeling that what was behind those drapes were subjects. His hand opened the curtains slowly and walked inside. The air smelled foul and parts of the walls were stained. On white, dirty beds were dead and deformed subjects...what shocked Shadow though...is that they weren't human, nor were they one of those beasts back out in the tubes. They all looked like him, but grotesquely shaped...One had no arms and a bubbled face with a skull like appearance. While another had a monstrous face in its chest that had a bizzare and terrifying expression. Shadow could not believe at all what he was seeing. It was like something from a nightmare. There were so many, twisted and deformed in many differen't ways. Each one brought a new chill to Shadow. He circled, and all he could see around him was dead ones. He heard the coughs again and saw one of them move. He limped toward the still living one, it turned its head and stared at him with a face of anguish. A second head with sharp teeth was embedded in its shoulder and its skin was wrinklely. Shadow's own expression turned from shock to sadness. His ears lowered and all he could do was stand there and watch himself suffer on the filthy bed. The thing began to talk, pausing and trying to get words out.

"p..p...please...kill me..."

Its mouth went agape, trying ever so hard to say what it had to say.

"...Kill...me..."

Shadow stepped back a bit trying to take in what was going on. Wasted experiments surrounding him and a live one asking him to kill it. Misery turned to anger, and that anger turned to chaos energy. His glowing red eyes closed and his fist trembled. A growl escaped his lips.

"CHAOS BLAST!"

The whole room cracked and shattered. Cupboards, empty beds and the experiments turned to dust and then vanished into thin air in seconds. When it was over the whole room was burnt black and destroyed. Shadow felt a strong sense of relief. Imagining being those things sent a shiver down his spine. What made it even more chilling was the fact they looked just like him... Turning around he walked back into the room with the tubes. When he opened the curtains, several machines with chainguns hovered in the air like dragonflies waiting for their prey. Shadow made a frustrated expression.

_Damnit_

He uttered in his mind. Blasts of fire rapidly spat out of there rotating weapons. He ran towards them, dodging their fire while charging up his fist. Then he unleashed his chaos spear, stunning them. Electric bolts zapped and made vein like figures. The robots eyes were turning on and off trying to reactivate. Shadow jumped up, kicked a few to the wall turning them into piles of metallic waste. He dropped back on the ground and formed a black tornado. It threw the rest up in a circular motion so rapidly that it made them explode. After the fight he came out of his spinning to see if all his foes were eliminated. His eyes, darting and scanning the lab, only saw debri and wreckage of what were trying to kill him. When he finished making sure, he eased up and stood straight.

_There are a lot of computers in this room. I wonder if they have anything that will answer some of these mysteries..._

Turning to walk over to the largest computer in the room, the questions in his mind cried out to be answered here and now. He moved the chair out of the way and brought the computer out of its screensaver to a still open folder. He scrolled down trying to find something that would ring a bell. A file named "Project Shadow" came up. He opened it and read the text below pictures of what appeared to be his own anatomy.

**TOP SECRET**

_We've worked for years trying to reproduce Project Shadow, but have failed in our attempts._

_Its a lot more complicated than we thought. GUN's top scientists_

_are located at Site 99, I am handing this project over to them. I trust they will all do better than we did._

_Gerald's work is confiscated yes, but we have new orders now. The higher ups are_

_desperate for a weapon capable of harnessing Chaos energy. We've tried everything. We even_

_tried "inventing" a chaos creature, but the fact remains, Gerald's_

_work was groundbreaking. Under the order of the GUN Secretary of Defense_

_I am telling you to bring Project Shadow back online. For it is our only key_

_to figure out how to harness the power of the Chaos emeralds. _

What flashed below the thing Shadow read were pictures of deformed experiments, similar to the ones he saw. The visions of the future returned, he put the tips of his fingers on his forehead trying to control them.

"NO!"

He cried, suddenly finding himself grunting while gripping onto the desk that the computer was on.

-

Inside a large change room. Augustus just finished getting into his custom made pilots suit (All commanders had custom made suits). He strapped on his combat boots, tieing the laces almost instantly. Then he put his helmet on. A green, deactivated HUD was in his vision. Afterwards he walked out to where the garage was. A guard then abruptly stopped him and asked.

"Sir, do you even know what your doing?"

"Do not question me, soldier! I do what I must."

"But Sir that Project Shadow thing is dangerous. Its killed several squads, including the artificial ones.."

Augustus' sanity was clouded by his urge to eliminate Shadow once and for all. He snapped back at the guard making a stern and bitter expression.

"One more word out of you and I will dishonorably discharge you from service! Am..I..Clear?!"

The guards reply came out somewhat quiet.

"Yes sir.."

The tall, green eyed commander calmly and correctively looked at the submitting young guard before heading off. His boots made bass thumping taps walking out into the large garage. There were supplies and power tools scattered on the floors. Machines and engines laid next to steel shelves and engineers were working on various things. What stood in the middle of the garage is what caught Augustus' attention. A shiny, black battle suit stood at least eight feet tall. It had a striking appearance, posing chainguns for arms and rocket pods mounted on the shoulders. On its biceps were high powered electro-guns, which had the capability of turning anything it fired at into black dust. All mixed with a state of the art rapid-targeting system and a prototype shield.

One of the engineers that managed everyone working on the deadly warhammer stood in front of Augustus and spoke.

"Commander Augustus, your armour is ready. Shields fully charged and everything."

He informed.

"Good, good."

"I must tell you though. The shields are a prototype. Make sure you return in one piece. Or else my boss will have my ass for dinner..."

Augustus then interrupted.

"Just turn the damn thing on."

The engineer swallowed it fast and replied with a. "Yes sir." He immediatly stepped over to unplug the charger from the armour. A surge quickly sparked it to life. The canopy opened up and Augustus walked over to step inside. He rested his rear onto a couchion, as soon as he did the whole suit gripped onto Augustus' body. A comfortable pressure enveloped him, the canopy closed and the HUD on his helmet activated. Readouts of ammo, energy, flare/chaff and shield status flashed before him on the visor. He spoke into the mic on his grey, G.U.N style helmet.

"Commander, this is Hicks. You reading me?"

"Loud and clear, Hicks."

Augustus replied in a serious 'ready to kill' tone.

"Alright commander, one of the engineers is gonna do a series of calibrations before you head out."

Hearing this made Augustus frustrated. He wanted to get out there now and kill Shadow before he got away.

"Can't we just skip it?!"

Augustus asked flatly

"I'm afraid not sir...If you don't go through these calibrations then your weapons might not work properly. THEN how are you going to fight Project Shadow?"

Hicks remarked. Augustus let out a sigh and stood straight out into space.

"Ok, you see the detection system set up in front of you?"

"Yeah."

"Move your HUD to the top."

He did so, moving the green, eye-shaped reticle over a flashing light on the wall in front of him.

"Good, now the bottom."

He moved to the bottom.

"Okay?"

"Now the left...Good...Now the right...Good...Everything seems to be functioning properly."

"Um, yeah."

He replied in an 'I-wish-I-were-out-there-right-now' tone.

"Alright commander Augustus, just head to that door and open it using your hacking controls. It will send a signal out to the doors computer chip to tell it to open."

He began moving the heavy battle suit towards the door. When he reached it he pressed a button on a small console sending out the hacking signal and opened the door to a hallway. He activated his shields and kept himself alert. In his mind, the memories of him pointing a sub-machine gun at Shadow came to a boiling point.

_Too long have I waited for this. Gerald's work was nothing but a waste of government funds. Spent all his time trying to find a cure for his weakling daughter. Now I will dispose of his worthless Project Shadow filth. Justice WILL be served, Gerald. Once and for all!  
_

-

Back in the laboratories filled with tubes containing experiments resting in a zero-gravity-like position. The black and crimson-stripped hedgehog stood still, lost in the void of his own inner world. Everything around him seemed to ooze with confusion and hatred. He began to cry out inside himself. Crying out to Maria.

_Why didn't I end it after I defeated Black Doom? Why am I still living!? For the past few years I have done nothing but choke on my own past..._

A voice then entered his conscience. It was Maria.

_"I will always be with you, Shadow. Always..."_

"Maria.."

Slight tears started to swell in his eyes. He tried so hard to hold them back.

"M...Ma...Maria..."

The droplets of sadness crept towards his tan cheeks and onto the floor. His hands then turned into fists. A throbbing pain buried itself deep in his throat, connecting to his pumping heart.

"Project Shadow."

A guttural voice called behind his back. Machine like sounds coming from it. He turned around, confused expression, to see a dark figure with chainguns for arms and a host of other weaponry.

"I've waited years for this moment to come."

"Who are you?"

Shadow asked.

"My name is irrelevant! What matters is that I do remember you, Shadow. I will never forget the times when that fat egghead wasted G.U.N funding in order to create you to save his whore-of-a-daughter."

Shadow immediately knew he mentioned about Maria. The confusion on his face turned to bitter hatred for the man in the armour.

"Say that again you prick..."

_He looks like...The one that..._

He realized that this man not only looked like the strange dictator from his dreams. He also looked like the soldier that shot Maria on the ARK...Inside Shadow, anger was quickly replaced with revenge. The one that killed his beloved Maria was standing right in front of him. It made his blood run quickly and his eyes glow a bright red.

"YOU! YOU DID IT! YOU SHOT HER!"

"Correct Shadow. I see that you do remember my face, and how can you not?"

Augustus remarked in an I'm-so-smart tone.

"Your gonna pay so badly you bastard. She was the only thing I had! AND YOU TOOK IT AWAY!"

He spat out, holding up his fists in a combat-ready stance. Augustus then targeted Shadow and stood ready.

"Unguard."

**(To be continued)**

**Sorry, I've had a change of plans. The boss battle will be carried on into the next chapter. I've felt compelled lately to update now since you've all probably been waiting for one for so long now... (sigh) The pressure of the public.**


	7. Reincarnated Memories PART 2

**Reincarnated Memories (Part 2)**

With every bit of vengeance and his undying love for Maria. He charged at Augustus letting out a loud cry. His power came full force. But just when he was going to slam the man, a shield all of a sudden zapped and threw him back to the wall hard. He stood back up tall and alert using all the energy he had in him, exhaling a short growl.

_Shields. Why the hell does everything have shields in this place?_

Augustus did nothing more than chuckle at Shadow's attempt.

"Ha, now its my turn."

A missile expelled from the right shouldered pod. It followed Shadow as he bolted out back into the hallways with flashing red lights. Exhaust from the missile filled the surrounding area with smoke. Shadow looked back seeing it was getting closer. He accelerated as hard as he could attempting to escape the rushing explosive. It only got closer. He jumped up and forward going over the missile. His feet landed on it briefly knocking it into a spin. Then he touched the ground. Kneeling and looking at the orange and white bursting flames. It blew open a hole revealing the room behind it. Debris was hitting walls and floors making crashing noises.

_Just one? Does this guy know anything about me at all?_

He gloated in his mind. Despite that he knew he still needed to find a way past those shields. His chaos blast was already used up and it would take him too long to charge it again. His ear suddenly twitched, he turned his eyes as if trying to look behind hearing jet engines scream, and that guttural smooth voice of his opponent.

"You are indeed a quick one."

He was aiming his chainguns at the dark hedgehog, locking on. A red circular sniper-like reticle moved over its target. The chainguns started rolling, ready to fire.

"But not quick enough!"

Just when the massive guns sprayed their load. Shadow jumped up over Augustus and made a swift kick in the back, no damage was made due to the shields. Augustus fell forward landing hard on the metal floor. The chainguns still fired, damaging them permanently from firing right up to the floor. A machine like voice suddenly spoke into Augustus' helmet.

"Error. Micro-pulse-guns offline..."

"Damnit! You annoy me, Shadow."

He said as small robotic arms came out of the armours chest, pushing him back up hard. He turned to many directions seaching for his enemy with the target system. The reticle moved about on his visor, scanning each and every part of the area. Through the hole into the room past it, the reticle picked up the ebony hedgehog. The electro guns charging up rapidly.

"This will end your pathetic life!"

What seemed like a lightning bolt rapidly flashed at its target, creating a booming sound that quaked the halls and the room. There was nothing but a large, smoking, black scorched mark left in its wake.

_I got him. Yes!_

Augustus grinned, knowing for sure he defeated Shadow. He stepped into the hole that led into the room and took a look around with his targeting system...nothing...The feeling of great victory embraced Augustus.

Years ago when GUN captured Shadow after he crash-landed in a pod on earth. He heard of the news that he was to be put into stasis at GUN's high security prison, Zulu Penitentiary A.K.A. Prison Island. He wanted Shadow dead, but at the time, he was only a corporal and did not have the ability to do so. It was an almost joyous moment knowing that Shadow, the Ultimate Lifeform, was finally gone.

_Putting him in stasis was a foolish decision. Those idiots should have destroyed everything that came out of Geralds ass! But nooooo, they had to keep it for "research" and "archival use". Blind to the fact that it would only come back to bite them, and it did. Ever since Eggman broke into Prison island and re-awake Project: Shadow, GUN has had nothing but severe financial problems! If only they would have made me Head General, I would have whipped GUN into shape and kill Shadow before anyone would get the chance to awake him from his slumber. But they couldn't chose me..no! I was too "radical"! HA! Once I finally get together everything, I'll be the one making all the decisions! And they won't be able to do a damn thing about it._

Chuckles began to exit out of him, the chuckling then bursted into laughing. He was now completely enveloped in pleasure and success. He turned around and walked away back to the garage where he started, still laughing at his success.


	8. Chapter 8 Revenge is Oh So Sweet

Chapter 8: Revenge Is Oh So Sweet

_**In the Heart of Disease where Love is a stone**_

_**on the faces of those whose hate is as bone**_

_**I know I saw you there**_

_**where Hatred rules supreme**_

Smoke floated, creating a thin fog like atmosphere. The air had the aroma that one would find inside a warehouse, mixed with a sort of battlefield like smell. It was almost silent with the humming of pipes buried within the walls. The alarms were turned off but the flashing red lights on the ceiling were still rotating. On the hole that the missile created was very thin smoke rising from the scorched metal. Pieces of debri hung from the top, while the rest was dispersed along the hallway and all over the room.

Next to a desk in the room was a scorch mark left by Augustus' electro gun. The gun was powerful enough to splatter the atoms of any lifeform it fired at. There was no way Shadow could have survived due to its hypersonic speed. The middle of the metallic floor where the large mark was, was still melted from the impact.

In the Toxin Containment Section was Augustus proceeding back to the garage area. He was walking on a bridge that went across a giant room. Platforms hovered over the dark, brownish toxins that covering every inch of the floors. A loud buzz went off breifly as lab bots automatically floated down from an opening door in the ceiling. Green lights turned on as the doors opened up with a bass-level grinding sound. Once they neared the bubbling slime, they held out their arms with test tubes attached to them, collecting samples of the toxic slime. As Augustus stomped to the other side of the bridge, he remembered what he did 54 years ago.

:flashback:

Onboard the ARK, scientists and technicians ran terrified from a dozen rounds only to be struck down, hitting the metallic floor. Smoke and fire covered many parts of the area. Cries, pleas, shouts and gunfire could be heard coming from other parts of the ARK. A scientist, on his belly and blood splattered on his labcoat, got up shakily off the cold and grey surface. He ran for the autodoors ahead of him, not knowing who was behind him. Augustus, a young man with the face of an extremist, aimed his 5.56x45mm HK416 assault rifle at the scientist in the back. Without hesitation he pulled the trigger. A light yellow flashed from the barrel, one bullet case was ejected. The scientist fell foward, blood bursted from the exit wound on his chest and splattered on to the floor. His mouth opened in a silent scream as he covered the exit wound with his hands. When his body reached the floor, which was instantly, blood imediatly seeped into puddles underneath his body. After the slaughter, Augustus radiod his squad leader.

"This is Red 3, labs 9 and 7 clear."

"Roger Red three, proceed to..."

Punching noises, gunfire and yelling filled his headset. It went on for less than a minute, then silence. A voice however could be heard faintly..

_"_Come on Maria, we have to keep moving!"

Augustus then immediatly called the other teams, thinking about where they were. Before he could though, in a split second he saw Project: Shadow and a girl speeding through the halls outside. He double timed it, heading for the two that were his final objective. His breathing deepened as he ran. Space through the windows standed still against the passing walls. Gold Squad was right behind him following Project: Shadow as well.

"Don't let them get away!"

The Gold Squad leader barked.

As soon as the girl and the hedgehog got to the escape pod, the hedgehog punched in various commands opening the pod doors with a loud hiss. He rushed inside pulling the girl in hurriedly. Augustus quick wittedly shot the girl in the back before she could even reach the inside of the pod. Her blood spattered on the pods windows with the hedgehog quickly shocked by what he saw. The hedgehog then yelled out curses, his expression pain stricken, staring at Augustus with anathema. After the girl let out words in her dying breath, Augustus held up his rifle aiming at the hedgehog and fired. But it was too late..the pod shot out of the ARK down to earth just as he pulled the trigger letting out several rounds.

"Fuck!"

Was all he could shout. He lowered his rifle in shame, wishing he would have been quicker. The Gold Team leader walked up to him giving him a pat.

"You did your best, son. There was no way you could have nailed that bastard."

After he said that he pulled out a long range walkie talkie, entered a code and waited.

"Command, this is Gold Squad. Mission is scrapped. Project Shadow is descending to Earth from an escape pod."

_"Damn.. what is is your status?"_

"Red Team was wiped out sir, all other teams seem to be okay. We're Banged up and we have a few wounded, but we've cleared the ARK and eliminated all the key equipment. Requesting extraction."

"_Have you captured Dr Gerald?"_

"Yes we have, sir."

"_Copy that, a dropship will be sent as soon as possible, out."_

The Gold Team leader stuffed the walkie talkie back on his belt and stood still. Augustus just gazed into his own world thinking..thinking about why Gerald would blow government money to create such insane creatures. Wasting resources just to research chaos emerald powers, and for what? He knew that there were far better things that all that money could have gone to. He thought it quite sad that the organization he was proudly part of was taking orders from politicians that didn't know a damn thing about security and control. And he knew that one of these days GUN would collapse along with the very nations it protected if something wasn't done.

_Someday...Someday I'll take control of GUN.. Then no mistakes will be made ever again._

:End of flashback:

As Augustus walked in front of the entrance that led back into the garage area, he stopped and turned around. He heared a sound of quiet tapping. His eyes began to scan the other side of the bridge, yet no one entity could be seen. He tried a radar sweep, touching a button that turned on the radar screen. The white scanner rotated clockwise, Augustus looked at the north part of the radar, looking for moving blips...still nothing. From what his eyes saw, there was nothing but the lab bots in the area. Shrugging it off as just an ambient sound, he continued forward, opening the doors with his hacking system.

When he entered, he was greeted by Hicks on the comm.

"Welcome back Augustus. Impressive stuff you did out there."

"Why thank you, Hicks."

He replied with a tone of gratitude.

"Hicks, I want you to initiate Code 74. Repeat, Code 74."

He ordered.

"Code 74? Right now??"

Hicks replied in a concerned tone.

"Yes do it now."

Augustus said firmly.

Code 74 was considered the 'final execution' that was part of his plan to seize control of GUN and the country. The plan was very complex and spanned nearly 30 years of Augustus' life. It had changed a couple of times due to unfortunate events, such as when he conspired in secret with the dark alien leader, Black Doom. At the time, Black Doom offered him power to Earth largely because both him and Black Doom had very close ideological thoughts. Because of his defeat by Shadow however, the whole thing fell apart, forcing him to go back to the drawing board to modify the plans. With the close relationship with the Black Arms aliens, he was supplied with technology and genetics by the Black Arms to fuel his secret military, which he had been organizing for a long time. This secret military of his consisted of thousands of GUN soldiers, secretly loyal to Augustus, and lab-grown Black Arms creatures. This 'final execution' involved his entire secret military to uncover themselves and attack GUN at the heart.

_There will be justice..._

He mentioned in his mind

As he thought of his ever nearing place as the ultimate authority of the globe, a dark voice saying "It ends here and now, you fuck." came from behind him. His radar then picked up a blip emitting on the south portion. Frustration and anger replaced his excitment. His expression burning with what he was feeling.

"I thought I killed you!!!"

He shouted as he turned around to face Shadow.

"You missed..."

Shadow replied, eyes closed with a mocking expression.

"Your continuous contravention annoys me very much Project Shadow. Very VERY MUCH!"

Augustus stepped back and used his hacking controls on a hidden door. When it opened, several Black-Arms-like soldiers with pulse rifles and body armour poured out. Their helmets had the symbol of a purple hammer on the front.

"GO! KILL HIM."

Augustus barked, the creatures charging at the ebony hedgehog. As they charged, Augustus rushed to the repair room, sealing large doors behind him, and ordered the engineers to immediatly replace broken parts on his battle suit.

"Grah! GET BACK HERE!"

Shadow yelled, trying desperately to move past the crowd of Black Arms troops. But it was too thick, he had no choice but to fight off the grey creatures...He saw the doors to the repair room close up, cutting him off.

The creatures all of a sudden aimed their weapons at Shadow and fired a swarm of bullets. Shadow picked up speed just before the bullets tore him to pieces, making rapid and messed up souding pinging noises as they hit the floor behind him. When he reached the crowd, he jumped up just a little and smashed one with his foot. Green blood flew out of its face and onto the floor. Running past a few others, punching and kicking as he did, he made the spin dash. He sped towards another bunch and sawed them in half with his spin dash, their upper and lower bodies hitting the floor and walls with green splatters. Then he let out the words.

"Chaos..CONTROL"

All of time seemed to become paused. It was like a DVD player, and Shadow was the one with the remote. He went into spin dash again. Sawing, punching, smashing and killing all of the grey creatures as quickly as he could. He let out small bursts of shouts as he worked away at the stiff masses. When he finished, chaos control ended and he was kneeling amidst a garage now covered with green blood and Black Arms body parts. His fur was soaked with creature fluid. He turned his attention to where Augustus was and skated up to the doors where he hid behind. Then he began to bang on it with his fists, growling out words.

"Open up, bastard!"

He continued to pound on the metal barrier fiercly with both his feet and fists. Suddenly they opened slowly. Shadow stepped back awaiting to see the discust he wanted to eliminate so badly. His heartbeat increased, a fiery and raging sensation enveloped all his feelings. Once the doors opened up, his opponent was revealed still inside the battle suit. What was different though was that the chaingun arms were gone. They were replaced with (the left arm) a railgun and (the right arm) a buzzsaw. Augustus activated them both, locking on to Shadow, the buzzsaw spinning up fast in a loud motor-like-noise with bits of smoke coming out on startup.

"Now! DIE PROJECT SHADOW!"

Augustus yelled. His missiles locked onto Shadow with a red reticle, making a ringing noise. Then they fired, coming out of the pods like hornets flying out of a nest. Shadow jumped up, dodging the missiles. He flipped in mid air, came back down and ran at Augustus with the missiles following. Using quick senses he slipped under between the battle suits legs, going behind the thing. The missiles got closer and closer but were not going for Shadow.

"Goddamnit!"

Augustus yelled. Balls of fire wrapping around his battle suit in an instant. The shields activated emmiting a green electrical sphere, stopping the flames.

"Caution, shield level below 50."

Said the computer. The old veteran glanced at his shield status, cursing at Shadow's smart move. He turned around to face Shadow, targeting him with his railgun and electro guns. The two auto-aim reticles moved over the hedgehog and locked on turning red. He advanced imediatly, firing his railgun. Shadow charged at his opponent with fury, dodging the shots. They hit the walls leaving large cracked holes. When the dark and vengeful hedgehog got close enough, he leaped towards Augustus with a chaos spear charging up and his foot out to kick. Augustus then all of a sudden held up his buzzsaw blocking himself. Shadow luckily, seeing a vision in his mind of himself getting ripped to bloody pieces, missed the spinning blades but just barely. It made a large cut on his left shoulder, with bits of blood flying off and onto the floor. He almost lost himself and hit the battle suits clavical, luckily he didn't and jumped off behind Augustus. Gripping his shoulder and wincing in pain, Augustus advanced with his bloodied buzzsaw aiming at the onyx hedgehog. Hearing the growing noise of the blades, Shadow got himself back up, his hand covered with his own blood. He ran back behind Augustus just before the buzzsaw came down upon him. It hit the floor creating sparks, damaging it. Augustus cursed at the damaged weapon and looked around trying to find his enemy. What he didn't expect though, was a kick in the back, and another, and another. After a couple more they got faster and more brutal. Shadow was using all his strength, his mind burning with rage and vengeance. Then with full force, the onyx hedgehog did a spin dash and rammed Augustus back out onto the bridge above the toxins. The force of the ram lowered his shields more and pushed him to the floor on his belly.

"Warning, shield level 35."

The machine-voice caveated.

"Gaaah! You little shit!"

Augustus shouted out at the dark hedgehog. He hit his own controls while cursing, wishing it was invincible. Then he suddenly heard two words that thundered througout the area.

"CHAOS BLAST!"

A brutal wave of red covered his suit, dropping his shields to 0. Small alarms rang around him with a bright red word on his shield status saying 'DEPLETED'. The remaining part of the wave damaged his suit severely. Other alarms began to ring, piercing Augustus' ears making him infuriated. The machine-voice said warnings overlapping with other warnings. There was practically enough anti-silence to suffocate a man.

"DAMN YOU PROJECT SHADOW! DAMN YOU TO HELL! AAAAAHHHHHHHRG!"

Augustus furiously pounded on his controls, wanting it to get the fuck up and destroy the one he had been wanting to get rid of for so long. Nothing was responding one bit. The suit sparked and made bad noises trying to move. He struggled with the controls...But with no response...Knowing this was it for the suit, he flipped open an emergency switch of some kind and pressed it. As he did so, a gloved hand punched through the canopy grabbing him by the throat. He held his neck making asphyxiated cries as he was pulled out. Shadow looked at him with deep hate and sadness in his eyes. A look that sent a shiver down his spine...Deep in Shadow's feelings was a heated sensation. It made his fist tremble, wanting to smash the bastards face to bloody pulp. Which is exactly what he did.

"Naaaaah!"

The man screamed. Grotesque sounds of face bones cracking as he was punched several times. Shadow then spoke in a cold, shaky and hate-filled voice.

"Now you will feel how Maria felt..."

He looked at Augustus' holstered pistol quickly and pulled it out. Even though he knew very well about how to use weapons, he never utilized any. Weapons were inferior to his own powers and strength, therefore using any was extremely unnecessary. However, at this moment, he wanted Augustus to know what its like to be blown apart by bullets...Just like what he did to Maria many years ago... Gripping the pistol and aiming it at Augustus' chest he fired several rounds. He kept firing until the gun made a metallic snap telling that the clip was empty. Then he threw the gun aside and gripped his opponents coat with both hands, giving him one last look. He pulled him towards the edge of the bridge, about to throw him off, till Augustus said something...

"Project...Shadow...there will...be...order and justice...on this...earth..."

He coughed up blood trying to say what he wanted to say.

As Augustus spoke, the visions in Shadow's mind came back. He saw a crowd of Black Arms soldiers and human soldiers, both wearing dark armour, marching on the streets of Station Square. Flames burned behind the marching troops creating a nightmarish look. Augustus, having dark grey skin, a business suit and a bald, strange looking head, appeared in front of the troops. Staring at Shadow with those eyes that were now red, he said something chilling.

"Worthless humans will fear GUN and its leaders. There shall be ultimate authority."

The voice echoed as visions of people getting lined up and shot...Thousands upon thousands were struck down in cold blood by blazing bullets. Shadow then yelled some words in Augustus' face.

"NEVER! IT ENDS NOW!!!"

After he finished he threw Augustus over the railing of the bridge and into the toxins below. He screamed in absolute terror, falling right into the still experimental brownish ooz. His eyes widened nearing the stuff, and in miliseconds he landed in it with a muddy splash. He tried to get out but his attempts were in vein. He still screamed as his body turned grey and he could not breath at all. Then he began to convulse rapidly and sink into the ooz, ending the fight...

Shadow was relieved that he was gone now. He felt a warm and comforting feeling knowing that Maria's death was now avenged. As his adrenalin lowered however, he began to feel cold and shaky. The gash on his shoulder was now more bloodied than it was earlier. He held it trying to relieve it, yet it did not...The cold feeling seemed to get worse and he could hear his own heartbeat thump slowly. He then turned his attention to a beeping sound that had been emmiting from the battle suit. He walked over, wondering why it had been doing that. He tore off the canopy with his strength and threw it aside. Then he glanced inside looking around. What he found made his heart race. It was a timer with words above it that said **NUCLEAR SELF DESTRUCT INITIATED**

He immediatly picked up speed and raced off across the bridge and into the halls. He knew damn well what nuclear bombs were, and he certainly did not want to be around when it went off. Speeding past various personel and sections, he look for ways that led out of the base. There were signs on the walls which he followed. Ahead of him suddenly were soldiers, pointing their pulse rifles at him.

"Out of my way!"

The black and red-stripped hedgehog yelled as he knocked them down with ramming speed. Some of them were letting their weapons loose, only to hit the metallic floor...Shadow continued his way towards the way out. He ran and ran past more personel and more soldiers at an even faster pace...

The bomb on the battle suit was still ticking and only had 7 more seconds to go.

6

Shadow zig zagged up some stairs to a higher level. He smashed open a door at the top and continued to run.

5

Ahead of him was the same entrance from which he came.

4

He leaped through the hole he had made earlier, exiting the interior of Site 99.

3

Once he got out he accelerated as fast as he could, bolting right past the yard, past the gate and out into the hot desert in just miliseconds.

2

He raced through the desert and leaped down a cliff, hitting the ground below kneeling, then accelerating again.

1

As he sped on some dunes he stopped and turned to see a massive silent explosion behind him. The sound of the explosion came 9 seconds after it set off. It was almost defeaning. He shielded his eyes from the light that came from the mushroom fire-cloud. An expression of relief and triumph crossed his face. Nothing could have possibly survived that blast. He had saved humanity once again and killed the one that killed his precious Maria. Two things were fulfilled, and it made him feel ever so good inside. He breathed heavily with tiredness. The cold and shaky feeling suddenly returned. His arm with the gash was now completely covered with his own blood. Some even dripped off and soaked into his glove. His vision turned blury as he reached out to the air. He smiled and stepped foward in a drunken fasion.

"...m...Maria..."

Was all he said before he fell into the sand face foward with a muffled thump.

_It is done, Maria..._

**----------------------------------------------------------------**

**Holy scheisse! Probably the longest chapter in the whole story. **


	9. The Beginning of the Second Coming

**Chapter re-posted **

Chapter 9: Find Love

Eyes closed and his vision pitch-black. Shadow tried to image where he was for a few seconds. The air was filled with a sweet aroma. He began to open his eyes slowly, getting less blurry as he opened them. After rubbing his eyes he saw an absolutely beautiful scene. It was a field full of colourful flowers. He got up while rubbing his shoulder, noticing the bleeding gash on it was gone. The sun, strangely, was above his head, forcing his shadow to be absent. He started walking slowly, running his hand along the flowers. No one was around, he could not see anyone for miles. Everything from afar was covered with beautiful flowers. He smiled and made a cool expression, continuing to brush the flowers with his hand. He then fell back letting the flowers catch him with their soft embrace.

"So there is a heaven..."

He said to himself, well aware there was no one around to hear him. He turned his head to the side and closed his eyes contently, sighing with a slight moan. The feeling was so comforting to him. He felt so carefree that a chuckle actually escaped his lips. All of a sudden a familiar voice spoke something soft near him. Some giggles followed with the talking.

"Whatchya doin, Shadow?"

Shadow's ears perked up abruptly, knowing who's voice that was. He got up a bit, still laying back.

"Maria?"

His head turned into the direction where Maria was. She was there sitting and smiling. Shadow then got right up and ran towards her.

"Maria!"

He slammed into her gently, wrapped his arms around her quickly, taking in everything that was her essence.

"I'm so glad to finally be with you, Maria..."

"Same to you, Shadow. Same to you..."

The hedgehog breathed in her sweet scent. It was sweeter than the flowers even. His ruby eyes sparkled at the beauty as he slowly closed his eyes in a sleepy fashion.

"mmm...Maria..."

He suddenly fell asleep in her arms, holding her tighter. He opened his eyes back up to say something to Maria. Yet when he opened his eyes, they were once again opening slowly and in a blurry way. He could hear the sounds of a heart monitor and the quiet humming of some equipment. When his eyes could see clearly, he saw a white ceiling. He turned his head only to see himself in a small room. Something poked his arm, he moved his head to look at it. There was a needle stuck inside it letting fluid from a hanging bag flow into it. His expression turned into an angry one. He scowled at the room he was in, wishing he was back in the heavenly environment with Maria. Somebody then opened the door. It was a doctor and a nurse coming to check on him.

"Hello, Shadow. How are we feeling so far."

The dark hedgehog made no reply, staring into space flatly and irritated. Some more people walked in. It was Sonic and the gang strangely.

_What the hell is faker and his butthole friends doing here?_

Shadow wondered in his mind.

"So doc, is he ok?"

Sonic asked.

"He's made an incredible recovery. Normally it would take weeks to heal wounds that severe, and that deep. But his whole body has seemed to heal itself within hours. I've never seen anyone heal so rapidly before."

Shadow then interrupted, wanting to know something.

"Wait just one damn minute. How exactly did I get here?"

"We followed you, Shadow. All the way to Site 99. Me N Tails saw the whole thing from high above in the X tornado."

The cobalt hedgehog said with his trademark smile. Tails then cut in saying:

"You were in pretty bad shape when we picked you up."

"He's right, just a little longer and you would have been completely drained of fluid..."

The doctor interrupted.

Shadow laid back for a minute to process everything. His mind was clouded with the memories of Site 99. Seeing those visions of Augustus as a strange creature made him confused. Augustus still had his human shape, but his skin was grey...and his eyes were glowing red. A picture of him suddenly came into his head. There was a black background...Everything began to have a strange odor. Shadow found himself coughing outside of his mind. The doctor turned his attention to Shadow and asked "Are you ok?" The dark hedgehog closed his eyes, sat up and lowered his head. He began to shake lightly. Then Augustus began to speak words into his mind.

"I'll find you...Just wait..."

The images of the terrible future hit Shadow once again. Crowds of people ran in fear as they were gunned down by both Black Arms and human soldiers. As he looked closer at the crowd he noticed that Maria was in it. She was holding her hand out to Shadow, crying for help.

"SHADOW...THERE COMING..."

The real world suddenly flashed right back into his head. He was sweating and his eyes were staring off into space. His mind-trip was interrupted by the sound of the TV. Sonic and the others were busy watching the News. On the blue background screen were copper letters all disorganized, they then organized along with an epic tune into the words **Station Square Daily News.** Then it all faded to an old man in a brown suit and tie at a desk.

"Good morning. Todays top story involves what appeared to be a "nuclear explosion" in the desert yesterday afternoon. Some people are claiming there was a GUN research facility there that got destroyed by the blast. GUN is currently denying the existence of any such facility and says that this was just a weapons test. The conspiracy surrounding the possibility of a facility has put heated controversy on GUN. This controversy resulted in civil unrest in a few parts of Station Square."

Clips of riots and people shouting then came into view. One of the activists spoke in front of the camera.

"We will not accept protection from an organization that kills its own people to test nuclear weapons!!"

"Riots took to the streets and set the GUN recruitment center on fire earlier this morning. Then they made a picket line around the destroyed building. This is live footage showing the riot squad still trying to quell the mob."

Said a reporter before it abruptly switched back to the main one.

"Lieutenant General Augustus Munteaunu, GUN's head of anti terrorist operations, died of a stroke some time ago. He was believed to be a shut in until some friends found him dead inside his house. "

There was a picture of Augustus in the top right corner. Shadow immediately recognized the man.

_So his name was Augustus huh?_

He thought as it switched to a GUN official talking about Augustus.

"He all of a sudden stopped showing up, stopped calling everyone, and he never left the house."

As it showed clips of the inside of Augustus' house, a reporters talking overlapped all the sounds.

"Augustus was thought to have turned into a recluse. That is until friends came to see what the problem was. They found him dead on his couch with a book. It is currently unknown exactly when he died."

The camera showed a clip of an investigator explaining about the death of Augustus.

"Right now we don't know yet, he could have been there for days, weeks even."

Then it quickly switched right back to the head reporter at the station. As he spoke on the subject, Shadow sat up with an expression of disbelief.

_I killed him...And they lie about it?_

After staring into space for a few seconds he pulled the needle out of his arm and got off the bed.

"Shadow, where are you going?"

Sonic asked with no reply. The dark hedgehog simply opened up the window and jumped out onto some boxes. He landed on them hard enough to crush each one. He tripped and fell foward onto the gravel surface of the alley, cursing as he fell. Sonic saw this and let out a laugh as he saw Shadow getting up.

"Even the Ultimate Lifeform makes mistakes."

He remarked, smiling and continuing to stare out the window. Shadow glared back and said:

"Hey shut up, faker! I've made very few mistakes in my life."

"C-mon Shadow, can't you laugh about something once in awhile?"

Sonic asked.

"I don't have time for this."

The dark hedgehog said before he sped off down the alley.


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10: Weightless & Horizontal

_**In winter's tear when no one's near**_

_**I find condolence in the past**_

_**I reminisce and then get pissed**_

_**Her image haunts me like a ghost**_

_**I wish I could be understood**_

_**It's only fair but they all stare**_

_**I'm at a loss at such a cost**_

_**I wish that you were here to stay...**_

Skating through the streets of Station Square, Shadow began his search for the hedgehog girl he had met awhile ago. He felt as though he needed to keep a watchful eye on her. Strangely, he didn't know exactly why. Unknown feelings, as well as the essence of Maria, blanketed his mind whenever he though about her. What if she was being raped again? For all Shadow knew she could be in any kind of danger right at that moment...The nervousness made his pupils grow small and his mind boil with fear. What if she was gonna be shot by some low life?

_What if she's gonna be shot by..._

An image of Augustus shooting the girl in the head abruptly flashed in his head then gone...Shadow skidded to a halt and stood staring into space...

_But...Augustus is dead..._

He mentally growled and put his hand on his forehead, thinking..

_Why does this man still haunt me? And why the fuck am I still having these god awful visions? It doesn't make sense! Augustus is dead!_

The words of Augustus spoke once again into his mind, startling him with a smooth gasp.

_"She is dead Shadow. Dead!"_

Shadow suddenly shook his head and began to speak outloud.

"No she's not! She's not dead!!"

The ebony hedgehog began to shed tears of anger along with a sense of worthlesness.

"She's not dead..."

He abruptly swept the saddened expression off himself, changing it to a worried one, and accelerated to find the hedgehog girl. He couldn't believe that she was dead, he just couldn't...

_"__There is happiness for you Shadow. You just have to know where to look."_

The words Maria spoke to him in his dreams that one night echoed in his head.

_Maria..I promise I won't fail to protect you again.._

_-_

At the apartment building where Myr dwelled in, a hot discussion was taking place in the landlords office. Myr had lost her job and could not pay the rent anymore. It was a terrible experience for her, sitting in that office being told that she could no longer have a roof over her head. All that she had left of her parents blessing was now collapsing. What made it worse is that she had no relatives to go to, no friends either... What little she had was wiped out during the war four years ago. She spent years living in a group home. There, other kids made those years the worst ones she had ever lived. But they were nothing compared to what she was about to endure now..

"You must have all your stuff out by tommorrow. Alright?"

The landlord stated without any emotion whatsoever. Myr just stood up saying nothing, walking out with a pain that was nearly reaching the surface. She walked down the stairs slowly, processing everything that was going on in her head. When she got out the door, she stepped towards the edge of the sidewalk. She looked at the city and then turned back to see her home she once had. Biting her lip, she just could not hold it in much longer. Tears dripped down her face as she stared at everything slowly. Then all of a sudden she started running, running as fast as her legs could carry her down the sidewalk. She was trying so hard to hold back from sobbing.

In the shadows, the ruby eyed hedgehog was once again following Myr. He leaped and chaos controlled across the tops of buildings, going over a few corner stores and duplexes. He followed her past some rowhouses, and a music shop until she reached the woods outside of the city. Shadow chaos controlled down to the ground and continued the pursuit. He slid and chaos controlled behind trees as she ran. She started to trip from tiredness until she finally collapsed. She held herself up, staring at the ground. Then she let her face touch the earth in a sob. Shadow stood a distance behind her. His face was saddened and his ears lowered, seeing her in so much pain.

_Maria...Please don't cry...I'm here now...Its gonna be ok..._

Shadow didn't know exactly what to do. It had been so long since he had been in a situation like this. What made it more difficult was the fact that he didn't know her very well. He began stepping foward. As he did, the hedgehog girl stopped sobbing and turned around. Startled she fell back a bit. She then made huffing and hiccuping noises from all the crying. As Shadow got close, he kneeled down and looked at her wide blue eyes with his blood red ones. He put his hands slowly onto her face and wiped away the tears. Myr began to smile a bit from his touch.

_He's so gentle..._

She thought, closing her eyes in comfort.

"Thank you..."

She said softly and filled with emotion

"Whats your name?"

The dark hedgehog asked kindly in his smooth and quiet voice.

"..M..Myr.."

She replied, still smiling.

_Her name is...very close to Maria..._

Shadow thought to himself. He helped Myr up and then just stood there thinking...Thinking about what to say and do next. Myr just looked at him, holding her hands behind her back. Her eyes partially closed like a happy female character from an anime. Shadow's own eyes were in a dreamy state, staring at the ground. His shoulders shrugged a bit as he processed the moment. He swallowed and scratched behind his right ear, it twitched just after he finished scratching it. Myr then opened her mouth.

"Can I stay with you? Please...I have no where to go...No relatives, no friends...Please?"

She spoke with an innocent, angelic and soft tone. Her sky blue eyes penetrating straight to Shadow's deep emotions. Emotions that had not been lifted to him in a very long time...And some of those emotions, he had never felt before. New emotions that were more powerful than he had ever felt. He knew there was something more to this girl than just the essence of Maria...He stepped close to her and held her arm gently.

"Grab onto me and hold on tight, okay?"

Myr did so, and suddenly she was lifted off the ground, accelerating to an incredible speed. She stared in awe at the rapidly passing land around her. It made her feel so free...So energized...She actually found herself laughing in the rushing air.


	11. Announcement FUUUCK

**I have bad news for all who reads Dawn Of The End. The two chapters I was working on are lost due to my laptop being stolen. In chapter 11, Shadow returns to Myr's house confronted by Sonic along the way. The 12 chapter was going to be about Augustus overthrowing the Whitehouse and taking over as new leader of GUN and the world. I don't really want to put down any more spoilers because I hate giving away the mystery of the story. I will point out however that there was going to be a new hedgehog character (A Russian mercenary).**

**I know how badly some people wanna read more, and I apologize. As much as I wanna rip the adam's apple out of whoever stole my laptop, the two chapters are lost. Its gonna take time to re-do them both...**


End file.
